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TO WHAT EXTENT IS OEDIPUS RESPONSIBLE FOR HIS OWN DOWNFALL In the story of King Oedipus written by Sophocles to judge Oedipus one must look at the events in the play as they occurred and look at how Oedipus reacts and takes action according to the turn of events Doing this will show that the character Oedipus is only partially responsible for bringing about the disastrous fate that was predicted for him at birth The following paragraphs will only further persuade the reader that Oedipus was destined from the beginning to be cursed and all he did to contribute was to be himself and to be unaware At the beginning of the story Oedipus is viewed as a hero the solver of all problems and all-around good guy This perception of him slowly changes over the course of the play to the situation where Oedipus is ridiculed and exiled This fall from grace is solely due to circumstances rather than any fault of Oedipus himself The body of the argument will explain the circumstances which Oedipus lived through and that all he was responsible for was being human and having character flaws Firstly it is known by all readers or viewers before the play that the final outcome of the play is prophesied before the main character Oedipus is even born His life is clouded with the presage of disaster he was destined to one day kill his father and to become his own mothers husband Oedipus destiny was pre-determined No matter how good a person he was even if he had not one human flaw one way or another he would fulfil the prophecy and end up in disaster Due to the prophecy Oedipus had only a small part in his own downfall Secondly at the beginning of the play Oedipus is approached by his faithful subjects for help as they are suffering horribly due to the plague that has

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